A Loaded Die
by rockmysocks456
Summary: The new Architect, Jimmy Quinston has created the dream from memory. Arthur needs to find out if it's a dream or reality or lose Jimmy's life, and his own.
1. Breakdown

_* Saw Inception for the second time yesterday and I wanted to write a fanfic about everyone's favorite Point Man! Sorry if it's a little confusing. READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Arthur could always understand the difference between the dream world, and reality. From the day he started working with Dominick Cobb, he never once had a problem. Mostly this was because the dreams he entered were so drastically different from reality there was not possible way he could confuse them once he awoke. However, this time was different.

He had been training the new architect, Jimmy Quinston. He was a college student suggested to Cobb by Ariadne, who had been offered a similar but better paying job and had left the team. Jimmy Quinston was good. Very good at building the dream world. But he missed a key point.

"Now remember this, Cobb always says it's the most vital point in creating a dream: _Never_ create from memory. Not your memories, not the dreamer's memories, these places you create can. Not. Be. Real. Do you understand that?" Arthur recalled saying to Jimmy.

"Yeah, I got it, no I got it, trust me." Jimmy said shrugging off the rant Arthur had just gone on.

But now Arthur didn't know. He wasn't sure. He had been in two, three? Four? He wasn't sure how many layers of dream's he'd been in. But he had gotten all the kicks. Hadn't he? He was standing in the warehouse where Cobb often ran his little operations. He felt like he was going mad.

"Hello?" He called out, was he alone? Or not? He had not idea what was real here.

"Arthur! I-I don't know what happened I just was creating the dream and... I don't know if this is real or not!" Jimmy cried, clearly panicking.

Arthur calmed himself down, or so it appeared anyway. On the inside he was having a panic attack, however he appeared calm and collected as he usually did. He took a breath and said to Jimmy,

"Jimmy, did you create a dream from memory?"

Jimmy struggled to remember, "I honestly have no idea, Arthur."

Arthur reached in his pocket for his totem, though it was just a small cube of red plastic, it brought comfort to him. He felt the wieght of it in his hand but at the same time it felt non-existent. He rolled it and it landed on a three. He searched the die for that non-existent seven that appeared when he was in a dream but his focus was brought to Jimmy.

Jimmy had removed his gun from his coat pocket and was drawing it closer to his head.

"Jimmy, what are you-?"

"This is a dream, and when I shoot myself I'm gonna wake up. I'm gonna wake up and it'll be okay. You do it too, Arthur. You have to."

"No, Jimmy what if this isn't a dream?"

"I'm willing to take that chance."

Jimmy pointed the gun towards Arthur.

In a way Arthur felt relieved. He was going to be woken up and everything would be alright again. Everything would be fine. But another part of his mind was screaming, _there's a loaded gun pointed at your heart, Arthur, you're going to die!_

He needed some reassurance that this was real, or a dream. He held out a hand to Jimmy telling him to wait a moment, he bent over and picked up his totem.

"Jimmy, when I roll this die there's going to be a six if this is real, or a seven if it isn't..."

"NO! I'm not waiting anymore I want this to end!"

Without warning a bullet blasted through Arthur's side. He fell, clutching the bloody wound, and cried weakly,

"God dammnit, Jimmy! What if this is real?"

"It's not! See? I hear the music!"

Arthur's heavy breathing prevented him from hearing as well as he normally would but he strained to hear, but only heard the music coming from a car passing outside, it passed and he knew that it wasn't it.

"No, Jimmy, I think this is... real..." His vision was going hazy by the loss of blood but he saw, Jimmy raise the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger...

"DAMMNIT, JIMMY!" Was the last thing Arthur said before he was engulfed by a sea of blackness.

* * *

Dom was standing on the sidewalk outside of the warehouse in which he usually ran his Inception operations. He wasn't sure if it was real, or a dream. He couldn't grasp the difference. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the top, he spun it and watched intently, _damn that Quinston kid, he created a dream from memory!_ He was relieved when the top fell over. He then heard a gunshot from inside the warehouse and alot of yelling. _Arthur._ He ran in and heard a second gunshot. He skidded to a halt in the doorway as he examined the scene before him. Jimmy was dead. And Arthur was... bleeding... unconscious? Dead? Oh, god. Not dead, _not dead._

He rushed over to the young Point Man's side and checked for a pulse. Upon finding one, the door burst open, and Eames and Yusuf run in.

Immediately, Yusuf realizes what's happened and opens a box of medical supplies. Dom was unaware Yusuf posessed any doctor-like ability but found it best to let him work anyway. He pulled out a silver instrument and extracted the bullet from Arthur's wound. He threw it aside and began cleaning the wound. Within minutes Arthur's side was cleaned and bandaged. The only thing to do now was wait.

* * *

It was two in the morning and Dom had fallen into his usual dreamless sleep, on one of the lawn chairs in the warehouse. He was awoken by a faint groan. He opened his eyes and saw Arthur stirring.

Arthur opened his eyes, his side hurting like hell, and his head buzzing slightly. He blinked away the blurred screen and said, seeing Dom,

"Is this a dream or is this real?"

Dom gestured towards Arthur's hand, "You tell me."

Arthur opened his fist and found his totem. He rolled it on the floor. It landed on a six.

* * *

THE END.


	2. Contemplation

_* Per the request of a certain reviewer, **FreedomisnotFree996**, I've added another chapter, this one. And there will be ANOTHER after this! **READ AND REVIEW!**_

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Arthur sighed. It was times like this, where he lay stretched out on the lawn chair inside the warehouse, alone in the room, when he could sort through his inner most thoughts. Of course, usually he was laying there by choice, not because Yusuf said he had to because apparently you shouldn't move around too much after _just_ getting a bullet removed from your side.

Anyways, he lay there staring irritably at the ceiling wondering, what if Jimmy had been right?

_You can't think like that, Arthur. You can't think like that..._

His breathing increased, becoming heavier as his heart pounded worridly against his ribcage. Arthur pulled out his red die, and it shook violently in his trembling hand. He took in deep breaths, trying to get ahold of himself and rolled it.

It tumbled, as if in slow motion, rolling, rolling... seemingly forever...

_Don't look at it Arthur. You're awake, be confident of that fact! You're awake, Jimmy Quinston didn't know any better but you do! Don't be stupid, you're awake and you know it, you're being paranoid._

Rolling, rolling...

_What if I'm not awake? What if Jimmy was right? After all, pain IS_ _in the mind, and that's why I could feel the bullet. I never died because Cobb, Eames, and Yusuf all think we're awake! But we're not! I can escape the pain, all I have to do... is die._

Rolling, rolling... two, three, six, one, two... rolling, rolling...

_No! I'm awake, I have to be! If I kill myself and I'm not dreaming... I die. For real. But I am dreaming! We're gonna be stuck in the dream world, and won't accept reality as reality like Mal... God, what do I do? _

Rolling, rolling, rolling...

_No, I'm dreaming, a die couldn't possibly roll for THAT long... It's like it's slow motion... Or am I just really tired and seeing things? Can't be tired if I'm dreaming. But who says I'm tired? I don't think I am... Am I? Dammnit, am I certain of ANYTHING anymore?_

Rolling...

_I've got to be dreaming. Why wouldn't I be? Jimmy was right, but there's probably not enough of the sedative left for him to get back into the dream to tell us, he's up there alone, while we think he's dead! He's alive, and we're all still dreaming! _

Rolling...

_But what if I'm wrong? I'll die. I can't take that chance. Goddammnit! How the hell do I become certain of this? Certainty is how I get through life! I can't not have the facts. I can't..._

Arthur reached for the surgeon's knife sitting conveniently in Yusuf's open kit. He turned it over carefully in his hand and took a deep breath, raising the knife...

There were voices from another room approaching, they were discussing something, probably still oblivious of the fact that they were still dreaming.

Arthur took another deep breath, closed his eyes and his arm plunged down...

"ARTHUR NO!"


End file.
